Judith Medoff, Ph.D.: 1938-2022

11/04/2022

Judith Z. Medoff, Ph.D., a professor emeritus of biology at Saint Louis University, died Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022. She was 83.

Medoff was born Oct. 8, 1938, in Bronx, NY. She attended Barnard College for her undergraduate degree and earned her Ph.D. from Brandeis University. 

She joined the SLU faculty in 1973. As a professor, she taught courses on embryology, cell biology, and advanced biochemistry.

“Judy was a force to be contended with,” said Gerardo R. Camilo, Ph.D., associate chair of biology. “Even though I did not always see eye-to-eye with her, I always admired and respected her candor and dedication to our department, students and scholarship.”

Medoff was a developmental biologist working on cell migration, axon growth and pathfinding in the developing nervous system. In particular, she worked on investigating the loss of cohesion of neural crest cells as they migrate away from the fusing corners of the neural folds and the extracellular signals they respond to along their chosen route. 

She also studied the mechanism by which neural crest cells determine their final destination and the factors which specify where they settle down and differentiate into the spinal and autonomic ganglia of the peripheral nervous system.

She retired from SLU in 2004.

Each year, the department presents awards to graduating undergraduate biology majors and graduate students. Students are nominated by faculty for these awards, which are presented each spring at the departmental awards ceremony and include a monetary prize. One of the awards is the Judith Z. Medoff Undergraduate Teaching Award. The award has been given out since 2016.

Medoff was predeceased in death by her husband, Gerald Medoff; her parents, Nathan and Ruth Zuckerman; and her brother Gerald Zuckerman. She is survived by her sons, Benjamin (Alisia St. Florian) and Nathaniel (Sherri Berger) and her grandchildren, Julia, Alex, Jonah and Jacob.

Services were held on Friday, Sept. 30.